Welcome to My Prison
by LitaE
Summary: How exactly does Perry know the former prisoner currently being treated at Sacred Heart? What secret does he know and just who is he protecting? And why is The Todd acting a little edgy regarding it all? ONESHOT.


**Disclaimer:** I own nuttin' ya hear! Nuttin' and nobody to do with this 'ere Scrubs show.

**WELCOME TO MY PRISON**

Sacred Heart's employees were abuzz with mixed reactions. Rumours were running rampant about a man who had just been admitted. He had recently been released from prison and judging from gossip the charges were for something pretty rough. Some people wanted to stay away while others treated him like a side-show attraction. Nevertheless he was the subject of practically all conversation at the hospital.

"So did you hear about this new admit. Ex-con." Carla motioned to the gurney which was wheeling the man to one of the rooms.

Elliot cringed at the sickly looking older man patient. "Creepy. That's the best thing about working in private practice, you deal with-" She stopped when everyone around her faked being asleep and sarcastic snores filled her ears. "Fine, whatever."

JD popped up with the rest, shaking his head and grinning with his usual smile. "Come on Elliot, I'm sure he's not that bad. He's a patient just like everybody else here."

Turk rushed over to the group at the nurse's station, immediately addressing JD. "Okay dude, where's the prisoner?"

"Over there." JD motioned in the direction, turning to watch the doctors disappear into a room nearby. "He had this totally creepy body language and murder in his eyes."

Carla rolled her eyes from behind the counter. "What happened to the 'he's just another patient like everybody else' mantra you had going Bambi?"

"He apparently hit someone with his car and killed them, Carla." JD cried out, going off into a fantasy for a brief moment before snapping out of it quickly. "Woah, scary. Remind me not to do that again."

"I thought he shot someone." Turk replied with a confused look on his face.

"All the nurses were saying it was rape." Elliot piped in, skimming over a patient's chart.

Perry Cox stormed over to the group with a mocking smile on his face. "Well lookie-loo here. You know you should give me the memo when it's gossip hour at the nurse's station." Switching his moods like lightening, Perry's face and voice turned serious. "Now I don't care if he went on a rampage and killed 120 doctors, you still treat him like any other patient. Though since you seem so excited about the possibility of it all, Anthea I guess he's all yours. Now come!"

JD gritted his teeth as Perry shoved a chart in his chest. He nervously followed after his mentor to the room in which he had seen the former prisoner enter. Taking a deep breath, he kept affirming in his mind that he was courageous, despite the fact that he wanted to run as fast as he could in the other direction.

"Okay now, write this down you could find it to be very very very very important." Perry started when he walked into the room, however he stopped his rant short and his eyes went wide. He recognised the man on the bed and the day they met years ago flooded back into his mind.

_Perry sighed as another prisoner left the dank and poorly lit room. In a weird way he could relate to them, forced to be in a place when they'd rather be out in the sun. He hated Bob Kelso more than ever for one, taking his time away from his son and two, making him do the physicals of some pretty sick and twisted criminals._

"_This whole procedure is ironic. You know if you were in here it would be you getting things shoved in your asshole." _

_Perry looked up at the source of the voice, coming face to face with a cocky looking man, likely in his fifties but still trying to strut like he was twenty. The prisoner's eyes burned into Perry as he grinned sadistically. Hands on hips, he let out a frustrated grunt. Perry couldn't help but think he looked strangely familiar, but considering that he had been examining similar looking men all day, the thought was dismissed._

"_Let's get this over with." Perry and the man both said in unison._

_Perry flipped through some of the medical records the prison kept. He saw the man had a history of getting into fights, having been beaten severely on a few occasions. "Okay Mr-" He leafed to the front page, spotting the name he recognized too well._

"_Please, none of this Mr bullshit. Call me Charlie." _

_Still stunned after seeing the name and confirming it by spotting the identical eyes, Perry was even more than willing to get the physical over with. "Fair enough, Charlie."_

_Checking all the regular signs, Perry removed yet another pair of gloves as he finished the examination. Gratefully, Perry took a well-deserved and much needed gulp from his water bottle. He turned away from the prisoner, determined not to see him ever again._

"_You know," Charlie started as the prison officer began to cuff his wrists. "The last I heard of my numb nuts son, he became a doctor. Maybe you know him."_

"_Maybe." Perry bit his lip and sighed in frustration, waiting for the next person and feeling relief as Charlie was led away._

"_I pity the poor spawn that came out of that." The supervising officer in the room with Perry stated, after being quiet most of the afternoon._

"_Excuse me?" Perry snapped to attention, unsure of why he really cared all of a sudden._

"_Charlie got fifteen years for rape. He's getting out in about five from now." The officer seemed angry at this fact before moving close to whisper to Perry. "Word has it, he's attacked at least seven women, but they only caught him on two. Just no proof."_

_Suddenly feeling very sick, Perry could only muster a few words. "You don't say."_

"I remember you!" Charlie choked out as best he could, in the process bringing Perry back into the moment.

Perry could feel JD's confused eyes darting between them. Then he felt another pair of eyes on him. Turning to the door he could see a bunch of Sacred Heart's finest gathering to have a peek at the prisoner through the window. Growling, Perry went to shut the shades when one pair of eyes stood out from the crowd. The owner was standing back a little, watching with curiosity.

Perry pulled the blinds closed and turned to see JD opening the patient chart. He didn't know what came over him, but Perry knew he couldn't let anyone else know. Swiftly grabbing the chart, Perry ushered JD to the door.

"JD I've got this one, now go." He practically pushed JD from the room. Once again he met those eyes, before the person slowly walked away. Groaning at his rising conscience, Perry shut the door behind him.

"So Charlie, what can I do for you today?"

* * *

"Cox was acting so weird this morning." JD sat down with Turk and Carla for lunch at one of the tables. "The prisoner knew him and then he got this weird look on his face before pushing me out of the room."

"Maybe he thought you couldn't handle it. If he knows the guy, who cares." Turk picked at his food.

JD turned serious and leaned towards the couple. "He called me JD. He never does that unless he's like uber serious."

"Hey T-dog, JD, Carla. What's up?" Todd joined their table, looking around curiously.

"Hey Todd, just talking about the prisoner admit and Cox apparently knows him." Carla replied, popping a few fries into her mouth.

"Dude, who cares? He's just a prisoner." Todd's face seemed to drain of colour and his voice shook slightly. Within seconds, however, his smile returned. "Gotta go, chicks comparing boob sizes over there." He picked up his tray and left quickly.

"Speaking of weird, Todd has been acting suss all morning." Turk commented, motioning to the other surgeon.

"Geez Turk did you ever figure that it's because, I don't know, he's Todd!" JD rolled his eyes before biting his burger. Then spotting Perry leaving the line with his tray, JD ecstatically motioned to the empty seat next to him. "Doctor Cox! Over here!"

Perry rolled his eyes at JD's little display. He looked for a free table in order to eat his lunch in peace and drown out the last two hours, when as fate would have it he spotted a certain someone sitting alone at the back of the cafeteria. Trying to ignore the part of him that just had to be the super hero, Perry tried heading towards an empty table by the window. However, his conscience moved his legs in the other direction.

"Hey Big Kahuna, are you coming to the gym later?" Todd tried not to seem surprised by the company at his new table as he took a bite of his food.

"Listen here, we both know why I'm sitting with you of all people." Perry gripped the side of the table. "Just be quiet and let me eat my meal in peace. I will do the same for you as long as you pah-le-ee-ease don't make any sexual references."

"Okay Doctor Cox." Todd replied before laughing slightly. "Dude, your name rocks."

"That's it, I'm out of here." Perry tried to stand up but the moment he walked away, he was stopped.

"Dude, I promise. No more." Todd made a motion of zipping his mouth. His eyes looked desperate. "Please."

Perry sat back down with him. "This is not, repeat, not repeat, not going to become a habit, okay. It's just as fateful screw up would have it, I just care too much." Sighing, he turned serious and watched Todd eat his food.

Perry ate what he could in the silence. He could feel curious people watching him throughout the cafeteria, in particular JD. Finally Perry decided to bring up the question, the real reason he had sat with someone he frankly couldn't stand.

"Todd, have you gone to see him yet?"

This question paralysed the surgeon, making him drop his burger. "See who?"

"Don't play dumb with me, granted you are such an idiot it almost pains me to listen to you. You know what I'm talking about." Perry wringed his hands together before telling Todd. "There's a few tests running, but it looks like throat cancer."

"Probably from choking on a big dong." Todd held up his hand in a high five gesture towards Perry, who was now looking angry.

"Forget it." Perry shoved his tray away, mentally slapping himself for having to be the hero before he stormed away.

* * *

Perry waited for the elevator, hands behind his head and desperate to get home. However, the annoying voice of his self-proclaimed protégé rang out from behind him. Soon the child-like, doe-eyed man was standing by his side.

"Why have you been acting weird all day, like at lunch when you sat with Todd?" He asked with eyebrows raised, waiting for the answer.

"Newbie, what I do and why I do it are two things which are ab-so-lute-ly NONE of your business." Perry tried to will the elevator doors open with his mind, fantasising about sitting on his couch watching hockey with his son.

"You know you can talk to me. I'm always here for you." JD wrapped his arms around Perry's shoulders in a hug.

"You're violating the no touching policy again. For the love of god, why me?" Perry shook JD off him and turned to notice something. He stopped for a moment as the elevator opened.

JD stepped inside. "Come on Perry."

Ignoring JD, Perry walked to where he knew he had to be. Sure enough his instincts were confirmed as he spotted Todd in the dimly lit hallway. The surgeon stared through the window at the prisoner, watching the man on the hospital bed sleep. Perry ran a hand through his curls and sympathetically as he could manage made his way over.

"He wasn't good to you was he?" Perry stood beside Todd, staring at the man he had known to be Todd's father for many years. When he was met with silence, Perry opened up slightly. "You know, my dad never went to jail or anything but with the things he did he may as well have."

After a few moments of silence, Todd finally managed some words. "He made me sit on this park bench and comment on women as they walked by. It was so I'd end up picking a good one when I got older." Pressing a hand to the glass, Todd continued. "He said that they all wanted it. It didn't matter if they rolled their eyes, or told you to stop. Women always loved it, always wanted it."

"That explains why he went to prison for rape." Perry realised his comment sounded a little too harsh. "Listen, I'm not really good at this stuff."

"I just wanted to get out and have fun, you know." A stray tear made its way down Todd's cheek. A tear that had been locked away for years with his emotions. "Then he'd beat me with a shoe or a belt and tell me to 'be a man.'"

"Sounds too familiar." Perry couldn't help but state the obvious, briefly flashing back to his own abusive childhood for a moment. In understanding, he offered the only amount of reassuring compassion he could muster and put a hand on Todd's shoulder.

The simple gesture set something off in Todd and suddenly the sobs came forth. Perry didn't know what to do as he watched the manly composure slowly crumbling off the other man. Perry gritted his teeth having hated crying since he himself did it nightly as a child.

"Come on now, suck it up. It's over now." Perry pulled his hand away, hoping Todd would get his emotions under control. For a few minutes Perry just let Todd cry, with little comment.

Spotting a nearby seat, Perry ducked over and grabbed it. He motioned for Todd to sit in the chair. "You'll be okay."

"Thanks." Todd whispered to him, sitting on the chair, wiping his eyes and regaining his composure somewhat.

"You don't have to see him." Perry stared down at Todd seriously for a man-to-man discussion. "I know all the Doctor Phil's and Oprah Winfrey's of the world would tell you to go in there and give him a great big hug. But you know what, I've tried that. Even though my dad is dead I tried to go up and forgive him but I still end up dancing all over his grave. In fact last time I got drunk and took a piss on it."

This roused a chuckle from Todd as he cheered up slightly, but he still seemed conflicted. "The Todd's confused."

"Well Todd, think about it this way. Do you want to go in there and kiss and make up; or do you want to punch the rapist bastard for all the crap you've been trying to forget for how ever many years?"

"I want to make him look very silly. Like he used to do to me." Todd's face twisted in anger. He stood up and he stormed towards the door.

"Let us not forget, he's still a patient here." Perry grabbed Todd's arm until he was sure the surgeon saw his point. Swallowing his pride in order to make Todd feel better, Perry let more sympathy surface. "Think of it this way, you've got away from him and despite all the crap and disturbing past you managed to get your ass into medical school and become a surgeon. That's something not many have done."

Todd nodded in understanding, feeling better and grateful for Perry's company. "Do you wanna get a beer or something?" He made the decision to leave his father behind. No way could he handle that.

Perry put his hands behind his head. "Actually, I just want to go home and shake this day off like it never happened."

"Oh, okay then." Todd started off in the other direction, waving to Perry. "See you tomorrow."

Knowing what he was about to do, Perry let out a frustrating grunt. "Todd!" He called out after the other man, forcing him to turn around. "Come on, I'll buy you a round."

* * *

**NOTE:** Little odd in terms of friendship, but I remembered a few random bits in Scrubs epi's and this fic wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it (we've all been there.) Plus I'm writing these characters a lot, may as well give them a story without any SLASH in it. So this was the result and I may as well post it. Anyways, hope you liked my attempt at a friendship (well I guess more acquaintance) ficlet.  
I tried :-P


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